


Sophismata

by Faeymouse



Series: GAC Universe [2]
Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Femslash, GAC Universe, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:29:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28078473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faeymouse/pseuds/Faeymouse
Summary: (Set after the events of Chapter 6 of Go Away Closer)Following her escape from Darth Vader, Padmé encounters an old friend.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Sabé
Series: GAC Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056950
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26





	Sophismata

**Author's Note:**

> This was born from a lovely prompt I got on Tumblr from **the-dragongirl** sometime in either late 2015 or early 2016. It's been a while, details are fuzzy!
> 
> Enjoy~

The Naboo capital city of Theed, for all its traffic and tourism, had many out of the way places that only the natives could find. Small holes in the wall, white-bricked alleyways that only seemed to end nowhere, canals with hidden docks… there were too many to count, and Sabé Kamala knew them all.

She found herself heading to one now, a canal bridge with a small space just below the western edge, that only one other person knew about. Her heart thumped in her chest as she walked, louder than the gentle clicks of her heels against flagstone. She could very well be walking into a trap, she knew that full well. That’s why she’d tucked a blaster into the deep pocket of her cloak before leaving the Naberrie household. Though it had been years since she’d been a Handmaiden, the training had stuck with her. She knew when things seemed out of the ordinary; she knew when things reeked of _danger._ And a message on a private channel was definitely suspicious.

Especially on a private channel that only her former Queen knew of.

But she found she didn’t care. Not if it meant seeing Padmé again.

Sabé reached the rendezvous point with no trouble just as evening was beginning to touch the sky, slipping beneath the stonework of the bridge into the small crawlspace beneath. Despite her short stature, even she had to lean forward when she stood within.

She spotted Padmé first, sitting against a wall with a shawl wrapped around her, distorting her features. But Sabé knew her old Queen well; better than she knew herself. She was already falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around the diminutive figure before she could think better on it.

“Padmé!” Sabé pressed her face into the silken material of Padmé’s shawl. She couldn’t keep away the tears that stung her eyes. “It was you, I knew it! My lady, I thought you were dead!”

Sabé felt a soft hand on her back, and then arms wrapping around her as well. She felt Padmé shake against her, but when she finally pulled back there were no tears in her Lady’s beautiful eyes. It would take more than this to make Padmé Amidala cry.

The two of them still looked strikingly similar, nearly identical. It had made Sabé's time spent with the Naberries, especially in the recent months following Padmé’s disappearance, all the more difficult. But Sabé had always cherished her looks. She would never have become a Handmaiden, never would have met Padmé, if it weren’t for them.

Padmé let out a small laugh, features bright. She looked so much better than the grainy Senate footage they’d seen of her. When she’d suddenly reappeared after so long an absence following the end of the Clone Wars, only to have been branded a traitor, and Ruwee had wept for what had surely been the death of his daughter. Jobal had simply stood quiet, before calmly telling Sola that she and Sabé had best pick up Ryoo and Pooja from their friend’s home. Quickly.

“I’m difficult to kill, you know that,” Padmé continued, taking a deep breath. “I’m so happy you got my message. I was worried… worried that you wouldn’t believe it.”

Sabé ran one hand through Padmé’s hair, ending with her hand cupping one cheek. “If it gave me even a slim chance of seeing you once more, I would believe it in a moment.”

“You didn’t think it was a trap?”

“I did.” Sabé pulled away and shrugged. “But I’m not Panaka. I’m willing to risk it.”

The bit of old humor they had once shared often at the expense of their former guardsman caused Padmé to relax even more. Her shoulders were no longer as rigid as drying duracrete, and her smile actually reached her eyes.

“Sabé,” Padmé began, taking her former Handmaiden’s hand in both of hers. “I know you have no reason to grant me this, but I need to ask a favor.”

Sabé wrapped her other hand around Padmé‘s.

“Anything,” she said, and meant it.

“You’re still a Governess to my nieces, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Padmé swallowed thickly. “And you still live with them, at my old home?”

Sabé answered the same.

“Then…” she hesitated, and Sabé encouraged her on.

“What is it you require of me, my Lady?”

“I need you to convince my family to go to Otoh Gunga. I know Boss Nass will take them in, and you as well. It isn’t safe for any of them here anymore.”

Sabé nodded her understanding. “I will see it done. Will you be coming with us?” She tried hard not to sound like she was begging.

Padmé smiled sadly, lips pressed together thinly. “No, I won’t.”

“But…” Sabé’s eyebrows furrowed. “Padmé, they're your family, and they’re so worried about you.”

“I know, I know.” Padmé sighed. “But it would only be more dangerous for them. I can’t let them be anywhere near me. Not now. Not yet.”

Sabé fought the urge to argue, falling back on her training to always respect her Queen’s desires.

“Very well,” she said, and offered up a smile. “May I at least tell them that you are safe?”

Padmé’s eyes drifted downwards. “No," she said again. "The less any of them know, the better.”

Sabé’s heart clenched in her chest. She knew that this was necessary; she’d known it would be since watching that holo-broadcast of the Senate. But to see the pain that weighed her Lady down so…it hurt more than she could say. If she could alleviate it, even by a grain, it would be worth it.

She stooped her head, dark hair sliding off of her shoulders. “I will see it done.”

**~*~**

They went over specifics, who needed to be contacted and how they could get to the Gungan capital unseen (Sabé already knew the trip through the planet’s core in a tribubble bongo would not be like a boat ride in the Lake Country. It worried her to be so far underwater, but she pushed the thoughts aside) before finding themselves out of their hiding spot, and standing on the canal bridge.

The moon was shining bright, casting the world in a variety of grays and whites.

They had been about to part ways, for what may very well be the final time, when Padmé grabbed her, and kissed her.

Her lips were warm and her hands soft on the sides of Sabé’s face. It was one of the most wonderful things she had ever experienced, and before she knew it she was pressing her Lady close without even realizing it as they both deepened the kiss. The curve of Padmé breasts against hers, the foreign taste of her mouth… she didn’t think she could ever know its like again, nor did she wish to.

Padmé Amidala was a fierce thing to love indeed. Warm and burning all at once.

When Padmé finally pulled away, eyes as bright and dark as the waters bathed in moonlight below them, she looked right into Sabé’s face. Saw more than Sabé herself would ever hope to see.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and they parted.

As Sabé watched Padmé disappear into the night, she knew there many hidden places in Theed that only the natives could find. Too many too count, and Sabé Kamala knew them all but one.

**Author's Note:**

> *Sabé's last name is a personal headcanon of mine. I like to think that the Handmaidens would be given a royal surname much like the Queen herself. Since *another* headcanon of mine (I really have too many that build on each other) is that each reigning Queen of Naboo takes the surname 'Amidala', I thought it would be neat to include that their  
> Handmaidens are all given the surname 'Kamala'. Please note, I wrote this fic long before the US Presidential election of 2020, so the Vice President jokes were not planned but boy are they pertinent!
> 
> *Ruwee and Jobal are Padmé's father and mother, respectively. Sola is her sister, and Ryoo and Pooja are her nieces
> 
> *Otoh Gunga is that underwater Gungan bubble city from Phantom Menace
> 
> *A Tribubble bongo is a bio-engineered submersible transport used by the Gungans of Naboo. It's that submarine that Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Jar Jar use in Phantom Menace. Try saying it three times fast, go ahead
> 
> *Originally titled "Buridan's Bridge", and originally posted March 17th, 2016


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